WATCH: Cork city bouncing for the Jazz 

It’s been going strong for 47 years now, and the word on the street is this year’s Guinness Cork Jazz Festival was the best in a long time.

Paul Montgomery, owner of Clancy’s on Princes St, JJ Walsh’s on Oliver Plunkett St, Wilde on Oliver Plunkett St, and Mamacita’s on Marlboro St, said this year’s festival was “head and shoulders” above recent years.

“In the 30 years that I’ve been involved in the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival, it’s the best that I’ve ever seen because of sheer numbers,” he said.

“The quality of music has been superb, the customers are lovely, well-dressed, well-behaved, just wonderful people.”

Mr Montgomery added that, in his businesses, they had recently done a lot of work recruiting and training staff, many of whom had come from Brazil.

“We have a lot of beautiful Brazilian people who have propped us up, we have wonderful staff serving pints and collecting glasses, we have excellent security staff on the door. I’ve never worked with better crews,” Mr Montgomery said.

“We’ve had full houses and no incidents at all over the weekend, it’s just been wonderful.”

The line-up this year has seen the likes of Chip Wickham, Monjola, Summer Pearl, Melina Malone, Celaviedemai, F3miii, Chameleon, FyaRed, JarJarJr and Ahmed, and With Love, take to the stages of venues across the city.

Other artists taking part in this year’s events have included Nubya Garcia, Adrian Younge Orchestra, Tolü Makay, Sienna Spiro, Orchestra Baobab, and Annie and The Caldwells.

On Friday night, guests enjoying the Guinness Music Trail at Deep South were treated to a surprise appearance from festival favourites Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, who delivered a soulful pop-up tribute to the late D’Angelo following news of the musician’s passing last week at the age of 51.

The Chicago-born collective, famous for their fusion of jazz, funk, and hip-hop, drew an enthusiastic crowd with their heartfelt nod to the neo-soul icon, followed by a high-energy performance and a moment that captured the spontaneity and spirit of the jazz festival.

The festival has come a long way from its first blooming on Friday, October 27, 1978, and was the brainchild of the late Jim Mountjoy, who was then the marketing manager of the Metropole Hotel and others.

They first had the idea for a mini-festival in 1978, when the cancellation of a bridge event left the Metropole with rooms to fill on the newly created October bank holiday weekend.

The hotel already had a regular jazz session, run by the late Ray Fitzgerald and then Examiner employee Pearse Harvey.

From their collaboration, the first fledgling Cork Jazz Festival was born.

Mr Fitzgerald became the first chairman of the Cork Jazz Festival committee, a position he held for the next 23 years.

His connections with a London promoter helped to secure big names for the festival, among them the likes of George Melly, Ella Fitzgerald, Cleo Lane, Buddy Rich, and more.

This year’s jazz festival comes to a close this evening, with the final night keeping the energy high, with Vieux Farka Touré bringing his Malian desert blues to Cyprus Avenue, followed by Partiboi69 to close out the festival with a full-throttle DJ set.

Finally, revellers will be able to finish this year’s events in style at the Festival Club in The Metropole Hotel, the original home of the jazz festival, where late-night sessions and surprise performances promise the kind of atmosphere only Cork can create.

Then it’s only 12 short months to the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival 2026.